HINSDALE CENTRAL
HOLIDAY CLASSIC

HC SQUARED:  Building a New Tradition of Basketball at Its Best
 

2022 GAME SEVEN RECAP: HINSDALE CENTRAL 71, OAK FOREST 52

Box Score

HINSDALE, Ill. – Hinsdale Central shook off a slow start and bulldozed its way through the second half to beat Oak Forest 71-52 in game seven of the 2022 Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic.

The Red Devils (9-3 record) return to the quarterfinals of its home tournament, while the Bengals evened their season record at 5-5 .

Oak Forest had the hot hand in the first quarter, splashing four three-pointers on seven attempts. A 12-8 lead expanded to 21-10 as the period progressed. But Hinsdale countered with a pair of fast-break layups the other way to cut the deficit to 21-14 at the quarter's conclusion.

Hinsdale Central found success in the post throughout the game. The home team's height advantage led the Red Devils to score 18 of their first 19 points in the paint. Forward Ben Oosterbaan led the charge in that area as he accumulated 12 points in the first half. Despite Oak Forest's continued sharp shooting, the Red Devils turned defense into offense and found their stride to eventually tie the game up at 31-31. The momentum was only stymied by Oak Forest's three-pointer at the buzzer to go up 34-31 heading into the locker room.

The hosts retook the lead on Oosterbaan's layup at 35-34 early in the third quarter. The Red Devils were thriving thanks to a swarming zone trap in the half court, which forced turnovers and resulted in quick points the other way. Hinsdale Central's offense continually made the extra pass as well to score. By the end of the third quarter, HC was ahead 51-42.

A fourth-quarter scoring drought allowed the Bengals to pull within 51-47. But once the hosts found their footing again, they were off to the races with another 20-point quarter. A 16-0 run by HC featured a big transition dunk by Chase Collignon at 62-47. Oosterbaan finished his night with an and-one to make it 67-47.

The big stat disparity came in the points in the paint category, which HC dominated 58-16. Fast-break points were similarly lopsided at 22-6. The home side also controlled the boards (31-27) while also posting a stellar 22-to-7 assist-to-turnover ratio. Oak Forest committed 15 turnovers.

The Red Devils concluded with a 57.1 shooting percentage overall (1-10 on threes) compared to 45.5 percent by the Bengals (9-22 on threes). Oosterbaan racked up 27 points on 12-for-18 shooting and eight rebounds. Collignon tallied 17 points and three steals. For Oak Forest, DeShawn Nolan scored 13 points and Johnny Wiggins put in 11 points.

Hinsdale Central will face the winner of the Homewood-Flossmoor/St. Charles East matchup in Tuesday's quarterfinal at 8:30 p.m. Oak Forest will play the loser of the Homewood-Flossmoor/St. Charles East contest in Tuesday's consolation bracket at 2:00 p.m.